HIST 270 China in the World Section 001, Winter 2011

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1 Department of History, University of British Columbia HIST 270 China in the World Section 001, Winter 2011 Lectures: Tuesday, Thursday 15:30 17:00 Buchanan B213 Instructors: Timothy Brook Timothy Cheek Office hours: T 14:00-15:00, Th 11:00-12:00 M 15:00-16:00, Th 17:00-18:00 Office: Buchanan Tower 1117 Choi Building 276 Course objectives China does not exist apart from the world, and never has. This course approaches Chinese history as though what shaped that history lay as much outside the zone called China as within it. We will examine what went on in China during these millennia, but we will spend as much time exploring what went out outside among its immediate neighbours in East Asia, the entire Eurasian continent, the so-called West, even the globe itself and consider the powerful impact that China s interaction with the outside world has had on its historical path. Students need not have prior knowledge of Chinese history, but should master enough of China s historical record to be able to grasp its global context. Equivalency: ASIA 270. Course texts These fall-term books are available for purchase at the UBC Bookstore: Paul S. Ropp, China in World History (NY: Oxford University Press, 2010) Susan Whitfield, Life Along the Silk Road (London: John Murray, 1999) Timothy Brook, The Troubled Empire: China in the Yuan and Ming Dynasties (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2010) Timothy Brook, Vermeer s Hat: The Seventeenth Century and the Dawn of the Global World (Toronto: Viking; New York: Bloomsbury, 2008) Additional readings may be drawn from: Martin Lewis & Kären Wigen, The Myth of Continents (University of California Press, 1997) Paul Ropp, ed., Heritage of China: Contemporary China in Historical Perspective (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1990) available online from UBC Library Mark Lewis, China between Empires (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2009) Marco Polo, The Travels (Penguin) Louis Gallagher, China in the Sixteenth Century: The Journals of Matthew Ricci (New York: Random House) Patricia Ebrey, Chinese Civilization: A Sourcebook (Toronto: Macmillan, 1993) W. T. de Bary, Sources of Chinese Tradition (New York; Columbia University Press, 1999) Assignments for the first term will include listening to instalments from the BBC series, A History of the World in 100 Objects : Further

2 materials will be Readings for the Spring term will be announced in due time. Course requirements and grading (per term) Attendance and participation 25% Map Quiz 5% First Essay 15% Review Essay 25% Exam 30% The instructors may request essays be submitted using turnitin.com via the course website. Attendance and participation The weekly tutorial discussions are integral to this course. We will usually talk about the readings assigned for that week, and sometimes discuss upcoming exams or essay assignments. Tutorials are an opportunity for you to ask questions or seek clarification. Be aware that the instructor will pose questions to students at random. To earn a good grade in discussion, all you have to do is to do the readings and have informed opinions that you can share constructively with the group. The map quiz, the in-class document analysis, and imaginative history exercises are part of the attendance and participation grade. Here are the grading criteria: Outstanding: A Range I did all the required readings, attended every session, raised and discussed relevant issues, and engaged fully with the class. Good: B Range I did most of the readings, came to nearly every session, and engaged in discussion most of the time. Satisfactory: C Range I did some of the required readings, came to most sessions, remained interested, but rarely spoke and failed to react to the ideas of others. Poor: D Range I came, I heard, but I didn t really participate. Fail: F I didn t even manage that (ouch!). In-class document analysis For this in-class exercise, students will write an analysis of a primary source document (in translation) related to a topic that has appeared in class. Students will prepare for this by discussing the primary sources assigned during weekly tutorial discussions. This assignment will be done during class in the first lecture of Week 6. First essay due November 4 Choose an event that has been touched on in the readings or lectures, and write two separate narratives (three pages each), one that takes an internal perspective and one that takes an external perspective, and then conclude by explaining in one page which you prefer. Alternatively, Choose a text and follow the same method, offering two contrasting interpretations to what is said in the text, and then drawing a conclusion about which interpretation you find more persuasive. It is okay to declare that you are undecided, but you have to say why. 1,500 words. 2

3 Second essay due December 2 The essay topic(s) will be supplied in due course. 2,500 words. December exam date to be announced by the Faculty of Arts The December Exam will consist of short essay questions covering all the material for the entire term. Further details about the exam will be provided in class later in the term. Second term assignments These will be roughly similar to the first term assignments. Details to follow. Late penalty for assignments All paper assignments turned in late will be penalized by 3% per day late (including weekends). This policy is designed to be fair to all students in the course. Medical excuses require a doctor signed note. Language competence This is a language-intensive course, which includes heavy reading and considerable writing. A good grasp of English grammar and syntax is essential. Students for whom English is a second language are strongly advised to ensure that their level of English proficiency is adequate before taking this course. Even for native speakers, reading is not a simple straightforward act. There are strategies for reading that can improve your understanding of a book s contents and the efficiency with which you acquire that understanding. Students are encouraged to visit the History Department s ( and the University s writing centres to improve their writing skills. You can make appointments at the UBC writing centre for expert guidance and help in writing your papers. Academic integrity Plagiarism means claiming someone else s work as your own without giving proper credit. Familiarize yourself with this concept, as you can face severe penalties from the university if you are found to have plagiarized. If you have questions about when and how to ascribe information or ideas to others, ask the History Department s writing centre web site. Other resources Plagiarism: Citations: Pronunciation guide: Romanization guide: Romanization converter: Course policy on electronic sources The only electronic sources you may use are those you access through the UBC Library web site. You might use popular web sources such as Wikipedia for basic facts, but these do not count as the required sources for your work and are not a sufficient basis for your research. 3

4 First Term Week 1 Thursday September 8: Course introduction Week 2 Tuesday September 13: A history of the planet Thursday September 15: From Homo Sapiens to peoples: humans, language & writing Lewis and Wigen, The Myth of Continents, ch. 1 Assignment: Map assignment (take home in pairs) Week 3 Tuesday September 20: The agricultural transition: China in the Neolithic era Thursday September 22: The global state transition: the Shang and Zhou dynasties Readings: China in World History, ch. 1 Ropp, Heritage of China, ch. 2: Keightley Brief selection from Richard Wilhelm, trans., I Ching (Princeton University Press), to be posted on the course website BBC 090 Exploration, exploitation, and enlightenment: Jade bi (1500 BC) BBC 023 Old world, new powers: Zhou ritual vessel Week 4 Tuesday September 27: The philosophical transition: China in the Axial Age Thursday September 29: The transition to political centralization: the Qin and Han dynasties Benjamin Schwartz, Introduction and essay in special issue of Daedalus 104:2 (Spring 1975), Wisdom, Revelation, and Doubt: Perspectives on the First Millennium B.C. China in World History, chs. 2-3 TBA BBC 030 The world in the age of Confucius: Chinese bell Week 5 Tuesday October 4: Age of empires: Turkish, Tibetan, Tang Thursday October 6: The Golden Peaches of Samarkand : Tang cosmopolitanism China in World History, ch. 4 Lewis, China between Empires, ch. 6 Life Along the Silk Road,

5 Furthering reading: Christopher Atwood, The Tibetan Empire in Central Asia (Princeton, 1987) BBC 039 Ancient pleasures: Admonition scroll BBC 055 Inside the palace: Chinese Tang tomb figurines (ca. 700) Week 6 Tuesday October 11: Chinese as Buddhists Thursday October 13: Chinese as Women Life Along the Silk Road, BBC 050 The silk road and beyond: Silk princess painting (Khotan, ca. 700) Assignment: In-class student analysis: take two characters in the Silk road book and present and compare their understanding of the Tang in the world. Week 7 Tuesday October 18: A multistate world: Liao, Song, Nanzhao, and Jin Thursday October 20: The southern transition China in World History, ch. 5 TBA Week 8 Tuesday October 25: The climate transition: the Yuan dynasty Thursday October 27: The despotic transition: the Ming dynasty Troubled Empire, Polo, The Travels, pages to be assigned (his description of Khubilai Khan) BBC 064 Status symbols: The Percival David vases BBC 074 Threshold of the modern world: Jade dragon cup (Timurid empire, Ulugh Beg [ ]) Week 9 Tuesday November 1: The commercial transition Thursday November 3: The family transition: the creation of lineages Troubled Empire,

6 Ebrey, Chinese Civilization, BBC 092 Threshold of the modern world: Ming banknote Assignment: First essay is due on Friday November 4. Week 10 Tuesday November 8: The maritime world Thursday October 10: China as a lure for Europe Troubled Empire, Vermeer s Hat, 1-83 Gallagher, China in the Sixteenth Century, pages to be assigned Week 11 Tuesday November 15: Mapping knowledge of the world Thursday November 17: The silver trade and the global transition Troubled Empire, Vermeer s Hat, TBA Week 12 Tuesday November 22: Return of the khans: the Qing dynasty Thursday November 24:The Qing Marches West Troubled Empire, Spence, Emperor of China, selections Week 13 Tuesday November 29: China as a model for Europe Thursday December 1: review Assignment: Second essay is due on Friday December 2. 6

7 Second Term I. The Last Century or Two Week 1 Tuesday January 3: Global trade and the Opium Wars Thursday January 5: Europe as a model for China Week 2 Tuesday January 10: China s Demographic Transition Thursday January 12: Restoring, Reforming, Borrowing Week 3 Tuesday January 17: End of Empire Thursday January 19: Creating a Chinese People Week 4 Tuesday January 24: Republicanism Thursday January 26: Facing Japan, Being Chinese, Dealing with the West Week 5 Tuesday January 31: Liberalism, Communism, Corporatism, Neo-Traditionalism Thursday February 2: The Second World War Week 6 Tuesday February 7: Revolution, Revolution, More Revolution Thursday February 9: Experiencing the Revolution: Voices from China and the World Week 7 Tuesday February 14: The End of Leninism and its Chinese Afterlife Thursday February 16: People Power from Tiananmen to Liu Xiaobo Reading week: February II. Contemporary Themes Week 8 Tuesday February 28: Chinese Urbanization: Will There Be A Rural China in 50 years? Thursday March 1: Shanghai Cool: China s Global City and Treaty Port Roots Week 9 Tuesday March 6: Energy Hunger: Energy, Resources, and Sustainability Thursday March 8: Dam, Dam, Dam! The Cost of Electricity Week 10 Tuesday March 13: Familism with Chinese Characteristics 7

8 Thursday March 15: Feminism with Chinese Characteristics Week 11 Tuesday March 20: Religion and Collective Identities inside China Thursday March 22: Consumer Nation Week 12 Tuesday March 27: Chinaism, Asianism, PanAsianism, Socialism Thursday March 29: The World in China, China in the World Living with Reform, ch. 6 Week 13 Tuesday April 3: Rising China? Falling China? Thursday April 5: Review 8